Internet Chess

estebanw
36 ( +1 | -1 )Analyze the boardSoon after I started playing in gameknot I have been using the "analyze board" feature. I love it and it had definitely improve my record. I am just worried that it can also make me lazy. The day I play with someone in a real board I know my level will go down. Another question: how many moves in advance can you forsee?

premium_steve
57 ( +1 | -1 )me.... 12 ;) i'm not sure actually. sometimes though i can see a couple of moves ahead, but all the time i try to reach a position that looks good. or that seems to give me good chances for initiative.

sometimes in tactical positions it's difficult to know what is going to happen next. you don't know what move will be played so you can't really see ahead. but in more postional games. after exchanges or something, you can be left with a rook on the seventh or something and then say "hey this isn't so bad" and then you don't need to see what's going to happen after a couple of moves anyway

muppyman
52 ( +1 | -1 )estebanw,I don't think you have any reason to worry, analysing the board in cc games is not likely to make you lazy, because it is work in itself. If you work you are not lazy. It will also help you with over the board games. Why? because frequent analysis will enable you to recognise situations where all you need is technique, instead of foresight. Don't be too concerned about how many moves ahead you need to see, just keep working at learning technique. Now, if only I could take my own advice I might get better results. :))

i_play_slowly
121 ( +1 | -1 )"Let the perfectionist play postal" (Seirawan).The whole point of playing correspondence chess, including Gameknot's version of it, is that it ALLOWS us to analyze the board. This kind of chess is designed for players who seek the best possible move, even if it involves two weeks of contemplation. Considering the amount of effort required to make the very best move that there is (or at least the very best move that the player, at this point in her development, is capable of making), you could say that OTB play is the lazy alternative. Our kind of chess values excellence over haste. If my rating goes down when I play OTB, well, there's a problem with OTB chess. * I don't think anyone can say that they see a specific number of moves ahead. It varies according to the position. Every time your opponent makes a move that surprises you, but which turns out to be the correct move, you have failed to see even one move ahead. In a complicated middle game, it could surely happen to anybody. On the other hand, in an end game where 2 pawns are racing for promotion, almost anyone can see 5 moves ahead. Ultimately, you only have to see one move ahead, as long as it's the right move.

leo_london
85 ( +1 | -1 )Good answersfrom " i_play_slowly ". I have often thought that correspondence chess is almost a different game, that is obviously wrong. A fairer comparison would be in cricket, a one day limited overs game compared to a 5 day test match, although the one day game would be more accurately compared to blitz chess. Playing correspondence chess, even with the added comforts of " analyze the board ", access to data bases etc cannot fail to improve OTB skills. As muppyman said the very fact that you are taking time, maybe a long time, to analyze a position will improve your ability to recognise situations. Not sure about those situations where "all you need is Technique, instead of foresight " though, muppyman. Makes it sound as if you can almost go into auto-pilot for a few moves, perhaps you can ?

snake_man
51 ( +1 | -1 )leo_londonEven as a patzer, I agree that there are time you can sort of go into auto-pilot. For example, I almost always work towards the Ruy in the opening, so the first few moves, espically down the line of the Ruy Exchange, I make w/o thinking. Also, if all you have is a King and a pawn, and I have a Queen and a pawn, not much thinking would be required there either. And I imagine that as one sees similar or identical positions over and over again, those work the same way. Just my two cents.

leo_london
21 ( +1 | -1 )snake_manYes, you are probably right. I am just ultra cautious, I like to check all possibilities before coming back and playing the same move I've played dozens of times before. A belt and braces man, thats me.

ormus
50 ( +1 | -1 )Analyze The Board - CombosI use the ATB function when there are a lot of trees to a given combination. i.e. I want to trade a rook for a bishop and two pawns and my opponent has five logical responses (that I can see, anyway!). I analyze them individually with the ATB and play it if I can't find a refutation (beware the in-between move) in any of the various responses. During the opening phase, I pretty much just use my OTB vision to make my moves.

I respect the hell out of players who can do this kind of on-the-fly, multi-tree analysis OTB with tight time-controls.

snake_man
14 ( +1 | -1 )leo_londonbelt and braces, thats funny. I understand completely, perhaps if I were more like you, my rating would be closer to yours!

i_play_slowly
63 ( +1 | -1 )Lasker wore belt and braces"Education in Chess has to be an education in independent thinking and judging. Chess must not be memorized." – Emanuel Lasker * "Whoever wishes to develop a capacity for independent chess thought must avoid anything in chess which lacks life: artificial theories that rest on very few examples and an immense amount of contrivance; the habit of shying away from danger; the habit of needlessly taking over variations and principles employed by others, and repeating them unreflectingly; self-satisfaction and conceit; reluctance to admit one's errors... in short, anything conducive to routine, or to anarchy." – Emanuel Lasker

leo_london
22 ( +1 | -1 )i_play_slowlyKind of you to put me among such exalted company. Regrettably I am just a sad obsessive. I still frequently check that my move has been recorded properly, just in case the gremlins have corrupted the GK technology.

i_play_slowly
25 ( +1 | -1 )The Superiority of CC Chess"Correspondence chess is not only a school for technique or an academy for virtuosity; it is a discipline of deep thought, of research, of tenacity. There is no place for the easy and convenient draw by agreement, but there is always the torment of the search for the best." (Mario Napolitano)

apastpawn
67 ( +1 | -1 )The best feature hereThe 'Analyse the board" feature is a great part of this site. Other sites make you become a subscriber to use it. If you are not using it then your at a disadvantage.

To answer your question estebanw - If both players are using the ATB feature then your Elo should be approximately the same for OTB play. Basicly you are both aided and then unaided so the only variable would be your wits. Just make sure you do a systamatic approach and investigate all lines. This will help you in OTB play as you should be doing the same in your head. Of course with poorer visualization.